United Trust Bank (UTB) Bridging has appointed Gene Clohessy to the newly created role of director of underwriting.

Clohessy has worked in banking and finance for nearly 20 years, holding several senior credit positions including director of underwriting at LendInvest and, most recently, senior proposition manager at Shawbrook Bank.

Her skills and experience include service management, market analysis and strategy and she has established a reputation for building relationships with brokers and introducers.

UTB’s bridging senior underwriting managers will report to Gene, who in turn reports to director of bridging Sundeep Patel.

Over the last year, Patel has structured UTB’s bridging underwriting team to be able to manage regulated and unregulated bridging applications separately.

Clohessy’s initial priorities will be to continue to develop Bridging’s credit strategy and to identify potential process improvements.

Commenting on Clohessy’s appointment, Patel says: “Gene brings a huge amount of experience and know-how with a proven track record of managing high performing teams and delivering an excellent service to brokers.”

“As UTB looks to increase its appetite for more complex and challenging bridging cases in response to broker and customer demand, her experience and success of supporting commercial growth in combination with a degree of underwriting prudence will be invaluable as we continue to develop UTB’s bridging proposition in an evolving marketplace.”

Clohessy adds: “l am looking forward to working with UTB’s excellent Bridging team and encouraging closer links between underwriting and brokers.”